Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
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Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#2To be clear, this is using manufacturer's developer API to interact with their online services and not with the washing machine. Also something often managed by Home Assistant and alike.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#3I had the same issue, unfortunately my washing machine does not have an API. I used a raspberry Pi with a camera, using OCR i was able to detect the remaining time from the display. Having an API like this would have been so much easier.
I did create an opensource web app so you are able to see your remaining time, laundry history, and get (push/mail) notifications. Since you only need to push the remaining seconds to an http endpoint it probably is easy to use with the solution described in the article.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#4When I first moved to Canada, I had no money. I lived in an apartment block with a coin-operated washer and drier. But I always had to go down the hall to check if my laundry was done.
So I had the idea to wind some wires around the power cable to detect the electromagnetic field changes when the machine turns on and off. Then this could send a message to a Raspberry Pi which could ping me somehow.
I didn't want to leave my Raspberry Pi hanging around in that semi-public area though. Also, I couldn't afford one at the time anyway!
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#5It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time.
Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long will it take to spin - well that will depend how many times it needs to accelerate and decelerate to redistribute clothes to find an arrangement to get sufficiently low vibration.
So... With all these unknowns, the machine simply gives a kinda long estimate, and shortens or lengthens other parts of the washing cycle to 'catch up' with the claim. And if some process takes far too long, it will just overrun. And if you only put one pair of pants in, then it may cut the time back a bit when it weighs it and notices.
Washing machine software is now pretty complex!
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#6Great hack, but I’m sure any engineer worth their salt winces at the thought of a machine in their home roundtripping through far away 3rd party servers (I guess they’re the manufacturer’s, but if it’s hardware I own in my house those servers are 3rd party to me) just to notify them of a numerical value when they’re sitting literally 10 meters away (I live in the countryside and experience internet interruptions not infrequently, things running locally matter a lot to me).
I was thinking the other day as I was remodeling my kitchen that I would happily pay several times the price of regular appliances (fridge, clothes washer, dish washer) if they were built with a tasteful, minimalist design (eg 1960s Braun style), quality materials, and fully open source PCB/firmware/schematics/etc. I’m probably not the only one. It’d be a weird niche market but perhaps there’s something there.
If you tie it with the building consumer awareness of right to repair, anti consumerism, planned obsolescence, etc, the marketing just writes itself.
Maybe that’s a kind of company I want to start myself, having worked in consumer hardware for a long time and thinking about my next step, but if anyone wants to take the idea go ahead.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#7I had the same issue, unfortunately my washing machine does not have an API. I used a raspberry Pi with a camera, using OCR i was able to detect the remaining time from the display. Having an API like this would have been so much easier. I did create an opensource web app so you are able to see your remaining time, laundry history, and get (push/mail) notifications. Since you only need to push the remaining seconds t…
For "I'm done" notification, I use relay with power metering - looking at the power pattern, home assistant can be set up for notification after x time when that graph drops to floor.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#8It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long w…
It's a real PITA because the dryer time is fairly consistent. Leave stuff sitting wet in the washing machine too long and it picks up a musty smell, so ideally the dryer is done before the washing machine. But the washing machine is so bad at estimating it's remaining time, and it is dependent on the load.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#9I had the same issue, unfortunately my washing machine does not have an API. I used a raspberry Pi with a camera, using OCR i was able to detect the remaining time from the display. Having an API like this would have been so much easier. I did create an opensource web app so you are able to see your remaining time, laundry history, and get (push/mail) notifications. Since you only need to push the remaining seconds t…
For "I'm done" notification, I use relay with power metering - looking at the power pattern, home assistant can be set up for notification after x time when that graph drops to floor.
Exactly, that's also my setup. Works as a charm! The power meter is a zwave switch which sits between the socket and the washing machine.
Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
#10It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long w…
Was always wondering why laundry sometimes takes longer although I put in the same quantity of clothes. Now it makes sense. Thanks for the explanation, very informative!